Spot Report 22/2020: Armed members of the armed formations stopped an SMM patrol in Horlivka and prevented its departure for almost three hours

On the morning of 8 May, an SMM patrol consisting of five Mission members and two vehicles located on the south-western outskirts of Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk) conducted an announced SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight to follow up on reports of recent damage in the area.

At about 9:20, after the patrol had completed the flight, four armed formations members, (three of them carrying rifles), approached the patrol. They said that the SMM had no permission to fly its UAV in the area, and did not allow the patrol members to enter their vehicles and leave.

At 10:11, three more armed formations members, (armed with pistols), arrived in a van and a civilian car, with which they blocked the SMM vehicles’ exit route. They asked to take pictures of the monitors’ identity cards and of the mini-UAV, which the SMM refused to allow them to do.

At 10:52, an armed formations member, (armed with a pistol), arrived at the site and told the Mission it would be allowed to leave once it complied with the request. While waiting, the patrol members saw several armed formations members (three of them armed with sniper rifles) at a distance.

At 12:09, an armed formations member said he had received instructions to allow the patrol to leave the area and the patrol returned safely to base.